Staaff, Karl

Born Jan. 21, 1860, in Stockholm; died there Oct. 4,1915. Swedish state and political figure.

A lawyer by education, Staaff helped found the Liberal Party in 1900. He headed the party’s radical wing and in 1905 became head of the party. In 1905 he was a minister without portfolio in the coalition government, and in the years 1905–06 and 1911–14 he was prime minister. Staaf retired under pressure from reactionary pro-German and militarist forces in Sweden.